• Doctor
  • GP practice

Longton Medical Centre

Overall: Good read more about inspection ratings

451 Warrington Road, Rainhill, Prescot, Merseyside, L35 4LL (0151) 290 4700

Provided and run by:
Longton Medical Centre

All Inspections

6 July 2023

During a monthly review of our data

We carried out a review of the data available to us about Longton Medical Centre on 6 July 2023. We have not found evidence that we need to carry out an inspection or reassess our rating at this stage.

This could change at any time if we receive new information. We will continue to monitor data about this service.

If you have concerns about Longton Medical Centre, you can give feedback on this service.

06 December 2023

During a routine inspection

We carried out an announced comprehensive inspection at Longton Medical Centre on 6 December 2023. Overall, the practice is rated as Good.

The key question ratings are as follows:

Safe – Good

Effective – Requires Improvement

Caring – Good

Responsive – Good

Well-led – Good

Following our previous inspection on 7 October 2015, the practice was rated good overall and for all key questions.

The full reports for previous inspections can be found by selecting the ‘all reports’ link for Longton Medical Centre on our website at www.cqc.org.uk

Why we carried out this inspection

We carried out this inspection in line with our inspection priorities. We inspected all of the key questions as part of this inspection.

How we carried out the inspection

This inspection was carried out in a way which enabled us to spend a minimum amount of time on site.

This included:

  • Conducting staff interviews using video conferencing.
  • Completing clinical searches on the practice’s patient records system (this was with consent from the provider and in line with all data protection and information governance requirements).
  • Reviewing patient records to identify issues and clarify actions taken by the provider.
  • Requesting evidence from the provider.
  • A site visit.

Our findings

We based our judgement of the quality of care at this service on a combination of:

  • what we found when we inspected
  • information from our ongoing monitoring of data about services and
  • information from the provider, patients, the public and other organisations.

We found that:

We rated the provider as good for providing safe services. This was because:

  • The practice had clear systems, practices and processes to keep people safe and safeguarded from abuse.
  • Staff had the information they needed to deliver safe care and treatment.

We rated the provider as requires improvement for providing effective services. This was because:

  • Patients with long-term conditions were not always receiving appropriate monitoring or reviews.
  • The practice was not meeting all the targets for childhood immunisations and cervical screening uptake for eligible patients.

We rated the provider as good for providing caring services. This was because:

  • Staff treated patients with patients with kindness and respect.
  • The practice respected patient’s privacy and dignity.

We rated the provider as good for providing responsive services. This was because:

  • The practice organised and delivered services to meet patient’s needs.
  • Patients could access care and treatment in a timely way.

We rated the provider as good for providing well-led services. This was because:

  • There was compassionate and inclusive leadership at all levels.
  • There was evidence of systems and processes for learning, continuous improvement and innovation.

We found one breach of regulations. The provider must:

  • Ensure care and treatment is provided in a safe way to patients.

We also found areas where the practice could improve. The provider should:

  • Progress plans to recruit a practice nurse.
  • Take action to improve the uptake of childhood immunisations and cervical cancer screening.

Details of our findings and the evidence supporting our ratings are set out in the evidence tables.

Dr Sean O’Kelly BSc MB ChB MSc DCH FRCA

Chief Inspector of Health Care

7th October 2015

During a routine inspection

We carried out an announced comprehensive inspection at Dr Tree, Dr Sood and Dr Jacobs on the 7th October. Overall the practice is rated as good.

Our key findings were as follows:

  • There were systems in place to mitigate safety risks including analysing significant events and safeguarding.
  • The practice whilst small and limited for space was clean and tidy. There was a small step and manual doors on entering the building with limited availability for disabled car parking. The practice was in need of a quality impact assessment as per the Equality Act 2010 to help identify actions needing to be taken to improve disabled facilities at the practice.
  • The clinical staff proactively sought to educate patients to improve their lifestyles by regularly inviting patients for health assessments.
  • Patients spoke highly about the practice and the whole staff team. They said they were treated with compassion, dignity and respect and they were involved in their care and decisions about their treatment. Patients said they found it easy to make appointments and were seen in good time and didn’t wait long at appointments.
  • The practice has a patient participation group (PPG) who met three times a year and had various plans to develop their role in working with the practice staff.
  • Information about services and how to complain was available and easy to understand.
  • There was a clear leadership structure with delegated duties distributed amongst the team and staff felt supported by management. The staff worked well together as a team.
  • Quality and performance were monitored.

However there were areas of practice where the provider should make improvements.

Action the provider SHOULD take to improve:

  • Carry out a quality impact assessment as per the Equality Act 2010 to help identify actions needing to be taken to improve disabled facilities at the practice.

Letter from the Chief Inspector of General Practice

Professor Steve Field (CBE FRCP FFPH FRCGP) 

Chief Inspector of General Practice